Transfer mechanism



p 1936? L. J. AUTHIER TRANSFER MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March17, 1934 JNVENTOR Lows Jflufh/er ATTORNW Patented Sept. 22,1935

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFiCiE roughs Adding Machine Company,

Detroit,

Mich a corporation of Michigan Application March 17, 1934, Serial No.716,079

6 Claims.

This invention relates to calculating machines, and more particularly toa transfer or carrying mechanism for calculating machines.

The present demand for increased speed of op eration of calculatingmachines increases the possibilities .of errors because of increasedvibration, jarring due to sudden starting and stopping of elementsoperating at high speeds, increased friction, shorter operating periodsof moving parts, and other consequences resulting from higher speeds ofoperation of moving parts. One of the possible points at which errorsmay occur is in the carry or tens transfer mechanism, a particularlydelicate mechanism to adjust and maintain in perfect order.

It is the purpose of this invention to make it possible to increase thespeed of operation of a calculating machine and yet insure both positiveand complete operation of the carry mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thespecification and drawings which illustrate one embodimentof theinvention, and in which Figure l is a left side elevation of acalculating machine embodying this invention with certain parts removedor cut away to show the general application of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the transfer mechanism taken from thefront of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a left side detail of the transfer mechanism with the parts inthe initial carry position after an initial carry movement; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating the parts in positionafter a full carry has been completed, that is, with the parts in finalcarry position.

It will be manifest to those skilled in the art as the description ofthis invention proceeds, that, while the present invention isparticularly adaptable to calculating machines of the Burroughs type,such as is disclosed in the Pasinski Patents Nos. 1,774,289, 1,778,506and 1,911,768, the invention is readily adaptable to other types ofcalculators.

General calculator mechanism The invention is shown applied to aBurroughs machine, such as is disclosed in the Pasinski patentsheretofore mentioned. These calculators comprise arcuate actuator racksIll carried by one end of levers I l which carry printing type l2 upontheir other ends. The type are actuated by hammers l3 to print uponpaper upon a platen llmounted in a traveling carriage I 6. The actuatorracks are normally upheld by a swinging frame or bail Ill and areindividually released and their descent controlled by the stop wires I8set by depression of the amount keys iii. The calculator mechanism isactuated by a rock shaft 2| which is oscillated by the main drivingshaft 22 by mechanism not shown. The main shaft is oscillated by a motor23 through a clutch mechanism 24. When the motor is operated to give themachine a stroke of operation, shafts 2| and 22 are first rockedcounterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 1 during the forward stroke of themachine, and-then clockwise during the return stroke of the machine.

Each time the machine is given a stroke of operation, the main drivingshaft 22 oscillates shaft 2i and accordingly the three-arm plate 25, thelower arm 26 of which engages a stud 21 carried by a register frame 28that supports a register 29, the frame being journaled on shaft 30.

As the arm 26 engages stud 21, the register frame is movedcounterclockwise about the shaft 30 as a pivot until the register wheels29 engage the actuator racks It. During the return stroke of themachine, when the actuator racks are returned to normal position fromthe. differential positions assumed upon the forward stroke of themachine as determined by the amount keys depressed, the register wheelsare rotated clockwise until at the extreme end of the machine stroke armill of plate 25 engages a pass-by stud 32 and rocks the frame 28clockwise to disengage the register 29 from the actuator racks.

During the totaling operation, the controls, of course, are reversed tocause the register to engage the actuator racks upon their forward ordown stroke to rotate the register wheels in the opposite directionuntil they reach their zero positions.

During indexing of the actuator racks t0, the register 29 is disengagedfrom the actuator racks and is in engagement with the carry or transferracks.

The illustrated machine is also provided with an upper add and subtractregister 33 but the invention is shown applied to the lower register 29Transfer mechanism for lower register The transfer mechanism for thelower register is best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, and includes atransfer rack 40 for each pinion. The racks are pivoted on a shaft 4iand are normally urged in clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 2 andcounterclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4 by a tensionspring 42 having one end attached to a total.

iii

pin 42 projecting laterally from rack 60 and the other end to a yoke 44later to be described. Each rack is held against movement by a latch 43which is one arm of a yoke 44 pivoted on a shaft 45. The other arm 46 ofthe yoke extends upwardly and is engaged by a stud 48 carried by one armof. a trip pawl 50 pivoted on a shaft 5|. The other arm of the pawl isengaged by the wide or carry tooth 52 of its register pinion and istripped as the register pinion moves from 9 to 0. The pawl- 50 alsoserves as a stop for limiting the rotation of its pinion when theregister is restored to zero in the taking of a total or sub- The pawl50 for any one pinion controls the latch for the transfer rack of thepinion of the next higher order so that when one pinion moves from 9 toii, the pinion of. thenext higher order is advanced one step by thetransfer mechanism.

The operation of the transfer mechanism is as follows: The partsnormally assume the position illustrated in Fig. 2. When one of thepinions is rotated in the counterclockwise direction from its 9 to itsposition or beyond, as viewed in Fig. 2, the wide tooth 52 cams the trippawl 50 clockwise thereby rotating arm 46, yoke 84 and latch 43clockwise to release the latch to permit spring 52 to rotate rack 40clockwise to its initial carry position. The transfer rack is limited tovery slight initial movement to its initial carry position by engagementof its tail 53 with the restoring bail 55. In so moving, each carry rackmoves suiiiciently to place a projecting nose 55 of the rack under alateral lug 56 formed on the latch 63 which retains the latch and rackin released position.

The foregoing initial carry movement of the transfer rack to initialcarry position takes place during the time the register is in engagementwith the actuator racks it. Near the end of the return stroke of themachine, the register is rocked out of engagement with the actuatorracks iii and the restoring bail 50 is lowered which releases the carryracks. Those carry racks that have been tripped are mmediately moved bytheir springs to their final full carry position shown in Fig. 4. Thebail 56 is not lowered until the register pinions are disengaged fromthe actuator racks and engaged with the carry racks so that the carrydoes not .take place until the pinions are free of the actuator racksand in mesh with the carry racks.

The restoring bail is carried by two side arms fixed to a shaft 58. Theleft arm is constantly urged clockwise by a spring 6t (Fig. l) andterminates in an extension having a laterally projecting arm 59extending between two latches 6i and 62 pivoted at 63 to the registerframe. At the beginning of. the forward stroke, the register pinions arein engagement with the carry racks, and it is not desirable to move theracks immediately. Accordingly, the lug 59 is blocked against upwardmovement by engagement with latch 62.-

As the register frame is rocked to move the pinions into engagement withthe actuator racks near the end of the forward stroke of the machine,latch 62 is moved thus permitting the lug 59 to pass upwardlytherebetween permitting raising of the restoring bail to restore thetripped carry racks as shown in Fig. 3. This restoring action takesplace after the register pinions have been moved out of engagement withthe carry racks so that movement of the carry racks will not move theregister pinions.

When the initial carry movement takes place,

that is, when the actuator racks move to initial carry position, therestoring bail-and parts are in positions shown in Fig. 3. As theregister frame is rocked from the position shown in Fig. 3 to move theregister out of engagement with the actuator racks, the latch 6| movesto release lug 59 so that when the register has been moved out ofengagement with the actuator racks and into engagement with the carryracks, the ball 55 may be lowered as shown in Fig. 4 to permit finalcarry inovement of. the carry racks to final carry posiion.

The restoring bail 54 is operated through connections from the maindrive shaft 22 (Fig. l) to which is fixed an arm 66 having a stud 67projecting therefrom in position to engage the under side of a curvedarm 68 pivoted to the machine and to which is attached a link 69, theother end of which is connected to one arm of a bell crank lever iijournaled on shaft 58. The bell crank H is spring connected to arm 51 asdescribed in the Pasinski Patent 1,774,289, whereby it rocks the latterarm to raise the lower bail 56 in the proper timed sequence aspreviously described.

The foregoing mechanism is substantially the same as that shown in theheretofore mentioned Pasinski patents to which reference is made forfurther details.

Positive carry rack lock The distance moved by the carry rack in movingfrom normal position to the initial carry position shown in Fig. 3should be minimized as much as possible, and by the present inventionmay be minimized or even eliminated so as not to affect the relationbetween the teeth of the register pinions 29 and the teeth of the carryrack at. In the illustrated machine some initial movement is permittedin order that the projecting nose 55 of the carry rack may move underthe lateral lug 56 of the latch to retain the latch in raised orreleased position. It can readily be seen that the adjustment to obtainthe proper movement of the rack in initial carry movement condition isvery delicate and exact because if too much movement of the rack ispermitted, movement will be imparted to the register pinion as itengages the carry rack or possibly engagement will be entirelyprevented. 0n the other hand, if insuflicient movement is permittedlatch 53 either will not ride over nose 55 or will have such a meagerengagement therewith as to be readily dislodged to permit relatching ofthe carry rack to a position where the nose is again in front of lug 56.If the latch is permitted to return or is returned to relatched positionthe full carry of the transfer will, of course, be prevented when theregister is finally meshed with the carry racks during the finaltransfer movement at the end of the machine operation.

Increasing the speed of the machine to meet the present day demands forhigh speed operation increases the tendency of an uncertain latchingengagement between the latch 63 and rack 43 because of the increasedvibration, shortening of the time period, and the increased jar causedby the sudden stopping of rapidly moving parts.

Means have been provided, therefore, for retaining the latch in initialcarry position if an initial movement is permitted as is desirable inadapting this invention to present standard machines. This preventsdislodgment of the latch or return of the latch to latched position frominitial carry position, and maintains the parts in initial carryposition until final carry movement of the transfer mechanism, thusinsuring a positive and final carry after movement to initial carryposition.

The provisions so made are independent of the transfer rack andparticularly adaptable to pres ent machines without necessitatingappreciable modification of existing parts and does not decrease thepermissible range of adjustment in the present machine. Furthermore, themechanism retains the latch in released or tripped condition even thoughthe carry rack be actuated at the wrong time.

The locking mechanism consists of a yoke 15 (Fig. 2) terminating in anarm 16 shaped very much like the transfer rack l0 without the tran'sferteeth, i. e., it is formed with a projection or nose I! similar to thenose 55 of the transfer rack except that it projects a trifle higherthan projection 55. Arm 15 is also provided with a tall 18 which engagesthe bail 54 to limit clockwise movement of the arm and ball 15 by spring19 having one end attached to an arm projecting upwardly from yoke 15and the other end to shaft 45. This also serves as an additionalrestraint against clockwise movement of the carrier rack because ofengagement of a rearwardly projecting shoulder 8| with pin 42 In normalposition nose 'l'l engages lug 56 of the latch similarly to nose 55.When the initial carry movement occurs the carry rack and yoke l5 arereleased by the raising of lug 56 and their noses 55 and TI,respectively move under the lug 56 until the rearwardly extending tails53 and 78, respectively abut against bail 54. Slight counterclockwisemovement of the carry rack may occur, however, without dislodging thenose TI from under lug 58 due to the independence of bail l5 from thecarry rack. It will be recalled that bail54 is restrained in movement topermit only a slight clockwise movement of the carry rack and also yoke15. After being released the latch and ball assume the positions shownin Fig. 3 and a full carry is delayed until the register is disengagedfrom the actuator racks and is moved to engage the carry racks.-

Any vibration of the machine or jarring therei which might cause thelatch to jump the nose 55 will not cause it to jump the higher nose lland will not cause resetting of the latch member from an initial carryposition (Fig. 3) because nose 1'! of yoke I5 which is higher than nose55 is independent of rack 40 and is positioned under lug 56 andpositively holds the latch in released or initial carry position againstrelease by any vibration particularly from the transfer rack.

Furthermore, unintended movement of the carry racks because ofvibration, jar or :friction or through movement of the register plnionswhen engaging or engaged therewith, will not cause relatching of thetransfer racks because yoke 15 is not engaged at any time by theregister mechanism and in fact is not engaged by any train of mechanismwhich through jarring or vibration might cause its release. Accordingly,there is no possibility of the nose ll of yoke '15 being repositioned infront of lug 56 of latch 43 because of untimely movement of the carryrack or register pinion. Therefore, yoke 15 provides a positive meansfor locking the parts either in normal position or initial carryposition, even though the carry racks be movedslightly when the registerengages them in the extreme end of the machine operation. In thisconnection it will be seen that in theory at least it is possible forsuch a movement of the actuator racks because of improper meshing of theregister pinions therewith to move projection es of the transfer rackfrom beneath latch 33 permitting resetting of latch 53 were it not forthe yoke "55 and its arm 76 formed with nose ill.

After the register pinion is fully engaged with the carry rack at theend of the machine operation bail 54 is allowed to drop to the Fig. 4position, whereupon the carry rack 40 and the yoke 15 are allowed tomove to the full carry position shown in Fig. 4. Upon' the nextsucceeding operation of the machine the tripped carry racks and yokemember [5 are restored to their normal or Fig. 2 position by returnmovement of the restoring bail 54, as disclosed in the Pasinski patents.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that a lock has beenprovided which is independent of the transfer racks; and whichsupplements the usual retaining mechanism if the invention is applied toa standard machine; retains the latch in tripped condition; and inaddition retains the latch in tripped or initial carry position, wherean initial movement is permitted, until final carry movement of thetransfer mechanism to final carry position.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the lockingmechanism heretofore shown and described by way of illustration can bemodified to suit particular calculating machine transfer mechanismwithout departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as definedin the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A transfer mechanism comprising a transfer rack having an initialcarry movement and a final carry movement from a normal position, meansfor moving said transfer rack toward final carry position, means forreturning said rack to normal position, and means for preventing saidrack from resuming normal position until final carry movement thereof,said rack being movable relatively to said preventing means whereby thelatter is not moved by movement of said rack.

2. A transfer mechanism comprising a transfer rack having an initialcarry movement and a final carry movement from a normal position, meansfor imparting said movements to said rack to effect a transfer, a latchfor securing said rack against such movements and releasable to permitsaid rack to move to initial carry position, means for returningsaidrack to normal position and means for locking said latch againstrelatching movement following release until final carry movement of saidrack, said rack being movable relatively to said locking means wherebythe latter is not moved by movement of said rack.

3. A transfer mechanism comprising a transfer rack movable from a normalposition to an initial carry position and a final carry position, meansfor urging said rack toward said final position, a latch for restrictingmovement of said rack toward initial and final carry positions, meansfor releasing the latch to permit movement of said rack, means forlimiting said movement of said rack to initial carry position, means forreturning said rack to normal position, and means for preventing saidrack from resuming normal position from initial carry position untilfurther released to move to final carry position, said rack beingmovable relatively to said preventing means whereby said latter means isnot moved by movement of said rack.

4. A transfer mechanism comprising a transfer rack movable from a normalposition to an initial carry position and a final carry position, meansfor urging said rack towards said final carry position, a latch forrestricting movement of said rack towards final carry position, meansfor releasing the latch to permit movement of said rack to initial carryposition, means for returning said rack to normal position, and meanscooperating with a portion of said latch for restraining said latchagainst movement in one direction and in released position until finalcarry movement of said transfer rack, said rack being movable relativelyto said restraining means whereby the latter means is not moved uponmovement of said rack.

5. A transfer mechanism comprising a transfer rack normally urged from anormal position in a direction to effect a carry for transferring a unitof movement from one pinion to a pinion of another order, a latch forretaining said transfer rack against said movement and movable torelease its associated rack for such movement, means for returning saidrack to normal position, and means for retaining said latch in releasedposition until the transfer rack completes its movement to effect atransfer, said rack being movable relatively to said retaining meanswhereby said latter means is not moved by movement of said rack.

6. A transfer mechanism for transferring a unitvof movement of onepinion to a pinion of another order comprising a tripping pawl movableby its counter pinion, a latch for holding said transfer device againsttransferring movement, said latch being releasable by said trippingmechanism, to permit movement of said transfer device from a normalposition to an initial carry position, said transfer device having aprojection for engaging the latch to retain the latter in releasedposition, means for returning said transfer device to normal position,and means for restricting said latch against return toward normalposition until the transfer device moves to effect a transfer, said rackand latch being movable relatively to said restricting means wherebysaid latter means is not moved by movement of said rack or latch.

LOUIS J. AUTHIER.

